Contents

Laboratory's shelves, navigated by Cyril to the lower right (BBC Micro)

The story follows a scientist, named Cyril, who accidentally manages to shrink himself. In order to restore him to his normal size the player has to navigate their way around the laboratory, collecting vitamin pills and finding the elixir of the title.[1]

The game was released in 1987 for the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro on a wide variety of media. It was available on cassette and 5.25" DFSfloppy disk as well as ADFS 3.5" disk for the Acorn Electron Plus 3 and Master Compact. It was included on the Play It Again Sam 5 compilation in 1988 and also re-released in 1990 as part of the Superior/Blue Ribbon budget range.

Elixir was not as widely praised as other Superior releases. When reviewing the PIAS 5 compilation, Electron User found the game lacking compared to the "superb" Imogen (also on the compilation), saying "Elixir is an arcade adventure that originates from the opposite end of the quality spectrum".[2]Acorn User said "The logical puzzles are well thought out... and give players something to get their teeth into".[3]

1.
Acorn Electron
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The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC v2 along with its operating system, the Electron was able to save and load programs onto audio cassette via a supplied converter cable that connected it to any standard tape recorder that had the correct sockets. It was capable of graphics, and could display onto either a television set. For a short period, the Electron was reportedly the best selling micro in the United Kingdom, after Acorn Computer released the BBC Micro, executives believed that the company needed a less-expensive computer for the mass market. In June 1982, cofounder Hermann Hauser was asked about the recently announced £175 Sinclair ZX Spectrums potential to hurt sales of the BBC Micro, Acorns Chris Curry stated that the Electron is designed to compete with the Spectrum. The idea is to get the price very low. The company reduced the number of chips in the Electron by 90% from the BBC Micros about 100, problems with the ULA delayed the Electron, however, and Acorn repeatedly missed deadlines to ship the computer. The company expected to ship the Electron before Christmas, and sell 100,000 by February 1984, reviews were generally favorable, noting its excellent graphics compared to the Commodore 64. The reduced processor speed was attributable to the use of a 4 bit wide memory system instead of the 8 bit wide memory system of the BBC Micro to reduce cost. The Electron used just 4 64kbit RAM devices instead of the 16 16kbit RAM devices deployed on the BBC Model B, in the BBC Micro, the RAM ran at 2x the speed of the CPU allowing the video and CPU memory access to be cleverly interleaved. On the Electron two accesses had to be made to get an 8 bit word, meaning that the CPU was unable to access its RAM while screen refresh accesses were happening and this reduced the effective CPU speed by as much as a factor of 6. At the same time the BBC Micro B+ was being developed just metres away in the same Laboratory and this model used 8 64kbit RAMs enabling the screen memory to be overlayed with the BASIC and OS ROMs in the processor memory map. This allowed the full 32k byte program RAM to be used in addition to using a 20kbyte memory mapped screen, had this memory topology also been used in the Electron it is likely that it would have been the Spectrum Killer that it set out to be. The ULA continued to cause problems, delaying large-scale manufacturing, by October 1983 Acorn had received orders for more than 150,000 units, and expected to produce 25,000 a month before Christmas, the existing backlog would take more than six months to fulfill. Demand for the Electron was high but only two of WH Smiths London branches had inventory, Acorns Christmas 1984 sales were greatly below expectations and in January 1985 the company reduced the Electrons price to £129. In conjunction with an expansion into the United States, by February Acorns market capitalization declined 85% from the previous year. Olivetti acquired the company later that year and Dixons Retail acquired the remaining Electron inventory for less than manufacturing cost, with hindsight, the machine lacked the RAM and processing power to take on the prevailing Spectrum and Commodore 64. While it may not have been as popular as the Spectrum, Commodore 64 or Amstrad CPC and this meant the Electron had a lifespan not much shorter than those more popular micros and much longer than competitors such as the Oric-1 and Dragon 32

2.
BBC Micro
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Designed with an emphasis on education, it was notable for its ruggedness, expandability, and the quality of its operating system. An accompanying 1982 television series The Computer Programme featuring Chris Serle learning to use the machine was also broadcast on BBC2, renamed the BBC Micro, the system was adopted by most schools in the United Kingdom, changing Acorns fortunes. It was also successful as a home computer in the UK despite its high cost. Acorn also employed the machine to simulate and develop the ARM architecture which, many later, has become hugely successful for embedded systems, including tablets. In 2013 ARM was the most widely used 32-bit instruction set architecture, during the early 1980s, the BBC started what became known as the BBC Computer Literacy Project. The BBC wanted to base its project on a microcomputer capable of performing tasks which they could then demonstrate in the TV series The Computer Programme. The list of topics included programming, graphics, sound and music, teletext, controlling external hardware, the Acorn team had already been working on a successor to their existing Atom microcomputer. Known as the Proton, it included better graphics and a faster 2 MHz MOS Technology 6502 central processing unit. The machine was only at the stage at the time. The team worked through the night to get a working Proton together to show the BBC, not only was the Acorn Proton the only machine to match the BBCs specification, it also exceeded it in nearly every parameter. Based on the Proton prototype the BBC signed a contract with Acorn as early as February 1981, by June the BBC Micros specifications and pricing were decided. The machine was released as the BBC Microcomputer on 1 December 1981, BYTE called the BBC Micro Model B a no-compromise computer that has many uses beyond self-instruction in computer technology. In terms of versatility and expansion capability, as with Sinclairs ZX Spectrum and Commodores Commodore 64, both released later in 1982, demand greatly exceeded supply. For some months, there were long delays before customers received the machines they had ordered, efforts were made to market the machine in the United States and West Germany. By October 1983, the US operation reported that American schools had placed orders with it totalling $21 million. In October 1984, while preparing a major expansion of its US dealer network, Acorn claimed sales of 85 per cent of the computers in British schools and that December, Acorn stated its intention to become the market leader in US educational computing. The New York Times considered the inclusion of local area networking to be of importance to teachers. The operation resulted in advertisements by at least one dealer in Interface Age magazine, Acorn became more known for its model B computer than for its other products

3.
Compact Cassette
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The Compact Cassette or Musicassette, also commonly called cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. It was released by Philips in 1962, having developed in Hasselt. Compact cassettes come in two forms, either already containing content as a cassette, or as a fully recordable blank cassette. Its uses ranged from portable audio to home recording to data storage for early microcomputers, the first cassette player designed for use in car dashes was introduced in 1968. Between the early 1970s and the early 2000s, the cassette was one of the two most common formats for prerecorded music, first alongside the LP record and later the compact disc. Compact Cassettes contain two miniature spools, between which a magnetically coated, polyester-type plastic film is passed and wound and these spools and their attendant parts are held inside a protective plastic shell. This reversal is achieved either by flipping the cassette, or by having the machine itself change the direction of tape movement. In 1935, decades before the introduction of the Compact Cassette, AEG released the first reel-to-reel tape recorder and it was based on the invention of the magnetic tape by Fritz Pfleumer, which used similar technology but with open reels. These instruments were expensive and relatively difficult to use and were therefore used mostly by professionals in radio stations. In 1958, following four years of development, RCA Victor introduced the stereo, quarter-inch, reversible, however, it was a large cassette, and offered few pre-recorded tapes. Despite the multiple versions, it failed, consumer use of tape only took off in the early 1960s, after playback machines reached a comfortable, user-friendly design. This was achieved primarily by the introduction of transistors which replaced the bulky, fragile, reel-to-reel tape then became more suitable to household use, but still remained an esoteric product. The team at Philips was led by Lou Ottens in Hasselt, Philips was competing with Telefunken and Grundig in a race to establish its cassette tape as the worldwide standard, and it wanted support from Japanese electronics manufacturers. However, the Philips Compact Cassette became dominant as a result of Philips decision to license the format free of charge, Philips also released the Norelco Carry-Corder 150 recorder/player in the US in November 1964. By 1966 over 250,000 recorders had been sold in the US alone, by 1968,85 manufacturers had sold over 2.4 million players. By the end of the 1960s, the business was worth an estimated 150 million dollars. In the early years sound quality was mediocre, but it improved dramatically by the early 1970s when it caught up with the quality of 8-track tape, the Compact Cassette went on to become a popular alternative to the 12-inch vinyl LP during the late 1970s. The mass production of blank Compact Cassettes began in 1964 in Hanover, prerecorded music cassettes were launched in Europe in late 1965

4.
Floppy disk
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Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive. Floppy disks, initially as 8-inch media and later in 5¼-inch and 3½-inch sizes, were a form of data storage and exchange from the mid-1970s into the mid-2000s. These formats are usually handled by older equipment and these disks and associated drives were produced and improved upon by IBM and other companies such as Memorex, Shugart Associates, and Burroughs Corporation. The term floppy disk appeared in print as early as 1970, in 1976, Shugart Associates introduced the first 5¼-inch FDD. By 1978 there were more than 10 manufacturers producing such FDDs, there were competing floppy disk formats, with hard- and soft-sector versions and encoding schemes such as FM, MFM and GCR. The 5¼-inch format displaced the 8-inch one for most applications, the most common capacity of the 5¼-inch format in DOS-based PCs was 360 kB and in 1984 IBM introduced the 1.2 MB dual-sided floppy disk along with its PC-AT model. IBM started using the 720 kB double-density 3½-inch microfloppy disk on its Convertible laptop computer in 1986 and these disk drives could be added to older PC models. In 1988 IBM introduced a drive for 2.88 MB DSED diskettes in its top-of-the-line PS/2 models, throughout the early 1980s, limitations of the 5¼-inch format became clear. Originally designed to be practical than the 8-inch format, it was itself too large, as the quality of recording media grew. A number of solutions were developed, with drives at 2-, 2½-, 3-, 3½-, the large market share of the 5¼-inch format made it difficult for these new formats to gain significant market share. A variant on the Sony design, introduced in 1982 by a number of manufacturers, was then rapidly adopted. By the end of the 1980s, 5¼-inch disks had been superseded by 3½-inch disks, by the mid-1990s, 5¼-inch drives had virtually disappeared, as the 3½-inch disk became the predominant floppy disk. Floppy disks became ubiquitous during the 1980s and 1990s in their use with computers to distribute software, transfer data. Before hard disks became affordable to the population, floppy disks were often used to store a computers operating system. Most home computers from that period have a primary OS and BASIC stored as ROM, by the early 1990s, the increasing software size meant large packages like Windows or Adobe Photoshop required a dozen disks or more. In 1996, there were a five billion standard floppy disks in use. Then, distribution of packages was gradually replaced by CD-ROMs, DVDs. External USB-based floppy disk drives are available, many modern systems provide firmware support for booting from such drives

5.
BBC Master
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The BBC Master is a home computer released by Acorn Computers in early 1986. It was designed and built for the British Broadcasting Corporation and was the successor to the BBC Micro Model B, the Master 128 remained in production until 1993. The Master featured several improvements on its predecessor and these were physically identical to those used by the Acorn Electron Plus 1 interface, but with enhanced electrical characteristics for some of the cartridge connector pins. The improved version of BBC Basic was named Basic4, although the Master was intended to be compatible with legally written software for the older models, there were some problems running older programs, particularly games. Conversely, although few programs were targeted specifically at Master series machines. The Master was available in different models. This was the standard issue computer, the 128 in the name referred to its 128 KB of RAM, though it also featured 128 KB ROM. This was a Master with 4 MHz 65C102 coprocessor card, the Master AIV was essentially a Master Turbo model with a SCSI interface and a VFS ROM added, and formed the basis of the BBC Domesday System. The ET system was designed for use in a network and as such had no interfaces except RGB and Composite video, plus an Econet interface module and it used the same main circuit board as the Master 128, but the components for missing interfaces were simply not fitted. The internal ROM also contained much less software than that of the Master 128 and this system boasted a coprocessor card with a 10 MHz Intel 80186 and 512 KB memory. It also had the ability to run DOS Plus and the GEM graphical user interface, the Master Scientific was announced at the time of the BBC Masters launch, but was not produced. It was to have an 8 MHz 32016 coprocessor with 32081 floating point processor and 512 KB of RAM and this was similar to the previous external 32016 Second Processor. This model separated the keyboard from another unit which could be placed under the monitor, the Compact also utilised a limited re-burn EEPROM, instead of the battery backed clock plus CMOS memory found in the other models, and hence had no real time clock of its own. As a result of this, the *TIME and TIME$ commands returned dummy values, the unit under the monitor housed a 3½-inch floppy disk drive and the system power supply. The remainder of the system was housed in the unit as the keyboard. The cartridge and cassette ports were removed as a space saving measure, a multifunction mouse and joystick port was provided as a 9-pin D type with its function configured in software. A Centronics printer interface was also provided, the 1 MHz bus and analogue port were not provided on the Compact. Additionally, no internal sockets were provided for adding a co-processor or 2nd processor, however, the machine did include a 50-way Expansion Port edge-connector on the right side of the keyboard, that carried the same signals as Cartridge Socket#3 on a Master 128

6.
Elite (video game)
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Elite is a space trading video game, written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell and originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in September 1984. The games title derives from one of the goals of raising their combat rating to the exalted heights of Elite. Elite was one of the first home games to use wire-frame 3D graphics with hidden line removal. It added graphics and twitch gameplay aspects to the established by the 1974 game Star Trader. Another novelty was the inclusion of The Dark Wheel, a novella by Robert Holdstock which gave insight into the moral and legal codes to which they might aspire. A third sequel, Elite, Dangerous, began crowdfunding in 2012 and was launched on 16 December 2014, following a period of semi-open testing. Elite proved hugely influential, serving as a model for other games including Wing Commander, Privateer, Grand Theft Auto, EVE Online, Freelancer, non-Acorn versions were each first published by Firebird and Imagineer. Subsequently, Frontier Developments has claimed the game to be a Game by Frontier, to be part of its own back catalogue, the player initially controls the character Commander Jameson, though the name can be changed each time the game is saved. The player starts at Lave Station with 100 credits and an armed trading ship. Most of the ships that the encounters are similarly named after snakes or other reptiles. Credits can be accumulated through a number of means and these include piracy, trade, military missions, bounty hunting and asteroid mining. In the game universe, stars have planets, each with a space station in its orbit. Stars are always separated by interstellar distances effectively untraversable using the ships sublight engines, travel between stars is accomplished by hyperspace jumps, and is constrained to those within range of the limited fuel capacity of the ships hyperdrive. Sublight fuel capacity is apparently infinite, an extremely expensive one-shot galactic hyperspace upgrade permits travel between the eight galaxies of the game universe. There is little difference between the different galaxies. However, in some versions it is necessary to travel to at least the second galaxy to access the games missions, the planetary layout of the galaxies is different, and many players discovered trade runs between closely positioned planets with fortuitous economic combinations. Elite includes several optional paid missions for the Galactic Navy, according to Braben and Bell, Elite was inspired by a range of sources. The developers cite 2001, A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Braben also cites the works of Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Arthur C

7.
Revs (video game)
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Unlike most contemporaneous racing games, Revs features selection of aerodynamic settings by the player and a full three-dimensional environment. The player is allowed to drive the way around the track or even away from it completely. Unusual for the time, the track and terrain are not planar, whilst this would ordinarily be distractingly visible, timer-based manipulation of the BBCs display palette has the effect of turning all the code pixels blue, thus hiding it in the games sky. The game features rudimentary AI for control of the opponents cars, johnny Turbo and Max Throttle are usually the fastest opponents, whereas Miles Behind is usually the slowest. The BBC Micro version release features Silverstone as its one track, there is also an expansion pack, Revs 4 Tracks, which adds Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Oulton Park and Snetterton to make a total of five. The game was received by the press for its relative realism. Acorns marketing for the game included racing sponsorship, with driver David Hunt being sponsored in the 1984 British Formula Three Championship Acorn Computer European Trophy. An enhanced edition of the BBC version was released in 1986 by Superior Software/Acornsoft as Revs plus Revs 4 Tracks which included all 5 tracks, the enhanced edition also included a steering assist driving aid designed to improve control of the car when using keys or a digital joystick. Revs was later ported to the Commodore 64, with the game providing the Silverstone. The 4 Tracks pack for the Commodore included the Nürburgring, Oulton Park, images of Commodore 64 version of Revs box, manual and screen shots at C64Sets. com Revs at Everything2 The Revs series at MobyGames

8.
By Fair Means or Foul
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By Fair Means or Foul is a boxing video game first published for a range of 8-bit home computers in 1988 by Superior Software. It was later reissued with the new title by Codemasters who also published conversions for 16-bit computers, the game offers a variety of boxing moves including fouls. The game can be played either as a two-player versus game or single-player against the computer, the objective of the one player game is to attempt to become the World Champion by defeating six opponents. The opponents become progressively difficult to beat. The player can continue to defend their title against difficult opponents. The game features a range of moves including fair moves and foul moves as well as blocks. Foul moves can be made when the referee is not looking, indicators on screen let the player know when the referee is likely to notice foul moves. Successful hits reduce the energy bar. When the energy bar reaches zero, the player is knocked out, the player with the lowest energy at the end of the round loses a chance. As the game is played, members of the audience make comments which are shown on screen as speech bubbles, the game was originally developed by Michael and Terry Simpson for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. The game was converted to Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum, the BBC and Electron versions were released under the joint Superior/Acornsoft name while the other versions were released under the Superior/Alligata name. All versions were released on cassette with all versions except the Electron also released on floppy disk, the game was then released as a budget title by Codemasters in 1990 under the new title Pro Boxing Simulator. Controversially, this version had the words New Release on the cover which led to complaints when people bought the game not realising it was the same as By Fair Means or Foul. Codemasters then reissued the game with the New Release box changed to Previously known as Fair Means or Foul, Codemasters also converted the game to Amiga and Atari ST and these versions were released in 1991. Electron User awarded the game 8/10, praising the fact it approaches boxing from a different direction, Amstrad Action gave a score of 83%. Zzap.64 said the game cant be faulted as a boxing simulation but were impressed with the badly drawn and blocky graphics. Your Sinclair gave the game a score of 6/10 but complained of poor graphics, unwieldy control. Amiga Force gave a score of 58% in a Codemasters retrospective in 1994, computer and Video Games gave a score of only 36%, again criticising the blocky and sparse graphics but also only giving a score of 2/5 for playability

9.
Killer Gorilla
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Stephens wrote Killer Gorilla at the age of 17 after buying a magazine that had screenshots of Donkey Kong, and that made him feel like doing something similar. He was paid 400 pounds for the game, stephens wrote two other games for Micro Power, Escape From Moonbase Alpha and Mr EE, a clone of Universals Mr. Do. The game involves controlling a man to reach a fair-haired heiress trapped by a gorilla at the top of the screen. It is made up of four levels, set higher and higher up a construction site –25 m,50 m,75 m and 100 m. There are two hammers on the 25 m,50 m and 100 m levels, with none on the 75 m level, hammers last for about 10 seconds, as measured by the amount of bonus that ticks away. You cannot climb ladders or jump gaps when holding the hammer, after completing the four levels, the player returns to the 25 m level and the game repeats, getting progressively faster and with more barrels, custard pies, and fireballs. In addition, the girders on the 25 m level acquire more holes, an extra life is awarded when the player completes the 75 m level for the first time. Thus, the quicker a level is completed, the points the player is awarded. The game appeared on a number of compilations including 10 Computer Hits, Micropower Magic 2, PIAS3 also included a game called Killer Gorilla 2 but this was actually a re-titled early Superior Software game. This version has surfaced on the Internet. Http, //www. bbcmicrogames. com/micropower. html http, //www. cimweb. co. uk/killergorilla. htm Video clip of the BBC Micro version running under emulation How the packaging for Killer Gorilla evolved

10.
Repton (video game)
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Repton is a computer game originally developed by 16-year-old Briton Tim Tyler for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron and released by Superior Software in 1985. The game spawned a series of follow up games which were released throughout the 1980s, the series sold around 125,000 copies between 1985 and 1990 with Repton 2 selling 35,000 itself. The games have since been remade for modern systems, including iRepton for the iPhone / iPod Touch in 2010, followed by Android Repton 1. The author was inspired by a review of the recently released Boulder Dash, compared with Boulder Dash, Repton was a much more calm and organized playing experience with the emphasis on puzzle-solving as opposed to arcade-style improvisation. This remained true as more types of object were added in the sequels, the original Repton game was released in the summer of 1985 and has 12 levels, with passwords making it possible to jump directly to later levels. If passwords are employed, on completion of the level the displayed message challenges the player to complete the game without using them. The new versions of Repton for the PC, iOS and Android introduce additional levels, the sequel to the game, Repton 2, released for Christmas 1985 is much bigger. It introduces several new features, spirits and skulls, both of which are fatal to Repton on collision, there are also jigsaw puzzle pieces to collect, which eventually spell out the message Repton 2 is ended. There are no levels as such in Repton 2, instead transporters move Repton between different screens which, subject to restrictions, can be completed in any order desired. The entire game is in one very large level without passwords. Finally, some also contain an exposed roof, where meteors fall from the sky. Reptons requirements in Repton 2 are challenging, Repton must not only collect all diamonds and this part is particularly tricky, since the meteors fall in a random fashion, making it difficult for the gamer to guide Repton to safety. When Repton 2 was re-written for the PC, it introduced a game feature making it considerably easier to complete. In addition, brand new scenarios were included, effectively new games, while the first two games had only taken a month each to program, Repton 3 took eight months. It reverts to the form of a series of time-limited, password-protected levels, a few new features were introduced, fungus, time capsules, crowns and a timebomb which must be defused to complete each level. The inclusion of the timebomb meant that, as well as collecting all of the diamonds and crowns, Repton 3 includes a map editor along with the game, so that it became possible to create data files with alternate maps and new graphics for the levels. Three themed sets of files were released as continuations of Repton 3, with the titles Around the World in 40 Screens. These three titles used a modified game engine, in which the algorithm for deciding on the direction spirits first move at the start of a level was improved

11.
Platform game
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A platform game is a video game which involves guiding an avatar to jump between suspended platforms and/or over obstacles to advance the game. The player controls the jumps to avoid letting the avatar fall from platforms or miss necessary jumps, the most common unifying element of games of this genre is the jump button, but now there are other alternative like swiping in touchscreen. Jumping, in genre, may include swinging from extendable arms, as in Ristar or Bionic Commando, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines. These mechanics, even in the context of genres, are commonly called platforming. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as 3D games in The Legend of Zelda series, Platform games originated in the early 1980s, with 3D successors popularized in the mid-1990s. The term itself describes games where jumping on platforms is an part of the gameplay and came into use after the genre had been established. While commonly associated with gaming, there have been many important platform games released to video arcades, as well as for handheld game consoles. North America, Europe and Japan have played major parts in the genres evolution, Platform themes range from cartoon-like games to science fiction and fantasy epics. At one point, platform games were the most popular genre of video game, at the peak of their popularity, it is estimated that between one-quarter and one-third of console games were platformers. No genre either before or since has been able to achieve a market share. Since 2010, a variety of endless running platformers for mobile devices have brought renewed popularity to the genre, Platform games originated in the early 1980s. Because of the limitations of the day, early examples were confined to a static playing field. Space Panic, a 1980 arcade release by Universal, is credited as being the first platform game. While the player had the ability to fall, there was no ability to jump, swing, or bounce, however, it clearly influenced the genre, with gameplay centered on climbing ladders between different floors, a common element in many early platform games. Another precursor to the genre released that year was Nichibutsus Crazy Climber. Donkey Kong, a game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981, was the first game that allowed players to jump over obstacles and across gaps. Donkey Kong had an amount of platforming in its first two screens, but its last two screens had a more pronounced platform jumping component. This game also introduced Mario, an icon of the genre

12.
Thrust (video game)
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Thrust is a 1986 computer game programmed by Jeremy Smith for the BBC Micro and published by Superior Software. The players aim is to manoeuvre a spaceship by rotating and thrusting, as it flies over a two-dimensional landscape, the gameplay of Thrust was heavily inspired by Ataris Gravitar. Superior Software agreed to publish it as a full price game, while this was being created, it was also ported to other systems beginning with the Commodore 64. All other versions were to be published by Firebird Software at a budget price, the C64 version actually made it to release a couple of months before the BBC/Electron version and became a number one best seller. The aim is to pilot a spacecraft which must pick up a pod using a tractor beam, the ship and pod are subject to gravity and inertia, and being connected by a stiff rod can end up spinning around each other, out of control. Hitting the walls of the cave with either the ship or the pod results in death, each planet has turrets which fire bullets at the ship, which can be destroyed with a single shot, and a reactor which powers the defence system of each planet. If the reactor is shot enough the turrets will cease firing for a amount of time. Hitting the reactor with many bullets causes it to go critical and destroy the planet in 10 seconds - the ship must escape into space before this happens, with or without the pod. Fuel is needed to manœuvre the ship and can be collected with the tractor beam, a shield is also available, although when activated it uses fuel and the ship cannot shoot. Later levels have doors that are opened by shooting a panel, after the 24th level is complete a message is displayed. Two more messages are available after completing the 48th and 72nd level, on the BBC Micro implementation, the messages displayed are Support Hotol, Physics is fun and I love space. The realistic physics, pixel-perfect collision detection and a difficulty level were some of the main attractions of the game. As well as C64, Firebird released versions for Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 16/Plus 4, Firebird also released a sequel, Thrust II in 1988. More recently, unofficial ports have also released for the Vectrex. The 2600 version was published in 2000 by XYPE, the Vectrex version was released in 2004. Thrust was credited by Bjørn Stabell as an influence on the game XPilot, terraFire, MS-DOS Video of Thrust played on the BBC Micro Thrust from Firebird Software at Byte Cellar